Prototype of a Person

2002 Called - it Wants it’s Web Design Back

March 10th, 2008 | 1 Comment | Posted in College, Internet

The PermanentTSB website won a Golden Spider back in 2005 and since then hasn’t really changed it’s overall site design, infact, it has been virtually the same since 2002. A heuristic evalution of the site (undertaken in the Human Computer Interaction module of the MSc in Cyberpsychology) easily leads me to believe that it is in dire need of a redesign (yet their more recently launched “Yourmortgage.ie” is almost a replica of the main site). Out of a possible 23 heuristics, it only fully complied with 12 of them - meaning the site is littered with design inconsistencies, broken links, very clearly deviates from the current standard web practices (PDF files? really?) etc., etc.

It’s just another fine example of Irish web design firmly stuck in web 1.0. The .ie domain is virtually (no pun intended!) littered with them. I’m sure there are plenty more examples of badly designed Irish sites (not necessarily .ie) and would be thrilled to hear everyone’s own personal “favorites”.

Eircom.net is another firm favorite of mine for its sensational orange menu with white text, and dark grey text on a grey background for its sub-menu. Wonderful stuff.

Caveat Emptor - Irish iPhone Early Adopters, Part 2

March 5th, 2008 | 7 Comments | Posted in Internet, Technology

I keep on coming across the same Pat Phelan reaction to the iPhone pricing and wondering…

Am I the only one who has ever noticed how expensive ALL of the mobile phone tariffs are (especially the data charges), on ALL of the networks in Ireland, in comparison to the U.K? The phone prices are also very different, and the range of phones.

It’s nothing to do with the iPhone itself, it’s the same old adage in this country it’s “what the market can bare” rather than “best value for money”. O2 keeps its prices high because they can, and people are still going to buy the iPhone despite the download cap and excessive pricing.

As far back as September 2007 I suggested that those desperate for an iPhone would be better off with an iPod Touch instead. The iPod Touch has everything the iPhone has except it’s not a phone (though the iPhone isn’t exactly brilliant at being an actual phone - no MMS messaging, difficult SMS input etc.,) oh and let’s not forget that the iPod Touch doesn’t have that god awful 2 megapixel camera, what a loss.

Buying the iPod Touch is even better advice today because of the Joikuspot Software. Or, you could take Pat Phelan’s advice and go to the North, buy the iPhone and get it unlocked to use on any network. But that means being stuck in an 18-month contract and paying a monthly fee for minutes you will never get (though I doubt this is possible as you need to be a resident of the U.K to sign up to a mobile contract IN the U.K).

Even if you DO have an unlocked iPhone and use it on another network - you will still have to pay the high prices for Edge mobile data, so what’s the point?

Irish Blog Awards Winners

March 2nd, 2008 | No Comments | Posted in Internet

The Dublin Community Blog posted the list of winners from last night. Here it is with links too.

I definitely think that Grannymar & Head Rambles (joint winners) deserved the award for Best Personal Blog, which was the category that this blog was nominated in. I’m also really glad that Sabrina Dent won Best Designed, because her blog is gorgeous! Well done to everyone.

Robin Blandford (winner of Best Irish Technology Blog) posted some pictures of the actual award, and it’s so very pretty.

Good Luck to Everyone at the Irish Blog Awards

March 1st, 2008 | 1 Comment | Posted in Internet

The Irish Blog Awards are on tonight, good luck to everyone nominated. If you can’t make the physical event in the Alexander Hotel there is a Second Life party (formal attire please!) in the Dublin sim, in St. Stephen’s Green. This is tonight at 7.30pm. A big part of me (the shy part!) wishes I could go to the virtual party instead!

Kudos and thanks to Damien Mulley for applying his many skills to this.

Blog Design and RSS Feed

February 29th, 2008 | No Comments | Posted in Internet

My blog design is currently in transition seeing as I managed to KILL my previous theme template. I did far too much fiddiling with the code! It’s my own fault. So, I’ve reverted to the standard Kubrick Wordpress theme. As soon as I am able to access the server my site is hosted on (having some issues!) I’ll be able to change it around and finally upgrade to the newest version of wordpress (I really need to do this! I’m getting far too much pharmaceutical related spam, it’s very weird).

Also - for anyone that is currently subscribed to my RSS feed I have recently setup a feedburner account, so please change your subscriptions to THIS new one - it’s a much nicer looking feed because of all the lovely options feedburner gives you, for instance, you can now see how many comments there are on each post.

Private Parts

February 27th, 2008 | 1 Comment | Posted in Internet

It’s a real pity that it has come to this, but I’ve decided to set my social networking profiles to private - meaning, you can’t see me ,unless I can see you! Though I’ve never accepted a friend request from someone I didn’t know in one way or another.

The reason? Well, as if this wasn’t scary enough… I have come to the realisation that although I can control what *I* say online, I can NOT control what my friends say (those vile fiends!). I’m quite certain that I don’t want any prospective employers viewing the disturbing genital-based-whiteboard drawings they’ve been known to doodle or the perpetual cock-blocks.

IBA Best Personal Blog Shortlist

February 12th, 2008 | 9 Comments | Posted in Internet

As some of you might have noticed I was nominated for a blog award (best personal blog), and I’ve been shortlisted. Overall this is very surprising - firstly, because I didn’t think I had many readers as I don’t get that many comments, just lots of lurkers! (maybe I should start using feedburner?), secondly because within that longlist there are many other blogs that I would have chosen over my own. I’m very flattered indeed, many thanks to the judges and Damien. Good luck to everyone nominated.

The shortlist of nominees for the Best Personal Blog

(*personal favourites of mine)

I’ve been blogging for a few years, but only started writing regularly over the last year. Thus, the Blog Awards has really piqued my interest this year (and not just because of the nomination!). For me the great thing about the Blog Awards is how so many non-blogging people that I know have started taking an interest (once coerced into visting the site!), and this is because the longlists provide a very interesting and quality insight into the Irish Blogosphere. For those of you reading that are unfamiliar with the many brilliant irish blogs out there, might I suggest visiting each of the nominees listed on Awards.ie and maybe even voting for your favourite once voting commences.

Turn your Nokia S60 Handset into a Wireless Hotspot

February 7th, 2008 | 1 Comment | Posted in Internet, Technology

JoikuSpot is a free piece of software that allows you to share your Nokia Series 60 Internet connection with a wifi enabled device. It basically turns your phone into a wireless router and I think this software has huge potential for use with the iPhone, iTouch, Asus Eee PC and Nintendo DS, especially in Ireland.

For Irish consumers (and Apple Fanboys) hungry for mobile internet through Apple’s mobile version of Safari this could finally makes it a reality. JoikuSpot will, in essence, enable you to make any iPhone or iTouch 3G capable, and a 3G connection as we all know is far superior to Edge, which the iPhone currently supports. Infact, why buy an iPhone at all when an iTouch is cheaper, already available in Ireland and much slimmer in size? Pair your iTouch with a s60 nokia connected to either Vodafone or Three and you’ll have mobile internet at high speed with that wonderful Apple interface, and at a fairly reasonably price.

The only caution to heed is the fact that the wifi connection you create using JoikuSpot is actually an unsecure one, meaning anyone else nearby with an iTouch (or other wifi enabled device) could also connect to the internet. Connecting to 3G and wifi at the same time will also drain your battery down quite quickly, so I wouldn’t expect this to work for more than two hours or so (at least on your handset).

Currently the software is in beta and only supports the higher end N-series and E-series handsets, but I’m sure that will change as newer versions emerge.

Update: Rob wrote about this too - “Joikuspot - Euro iPhone Killer?“

Irish Blog Awards 2008

January 30th, 2008 | 2 Comments | Posted in Internet

The Irish Blog Awards take place on March the 1st at the Alexander Hotel, and I’m pleased to say that I’ve been nominated in the “Best Personal Blog” category, thank you to whoever that was. This particular category has a very long list of nominees - including some personal favourites of mine (UnaRocks, Red Mum, Irish Flirty Something, Swearing Lady etc.,) and some very big hitters (Maman Poulet, Grandad, etc.,).